Keep on getting rid of one thing a day decluttering challenge!

[StealthNinjaMum]

After a thousand posts our homes are beautiful, decluttered places of harmony and relaxation….. or perhaps not?

We’re still trying to recycle, freecycle, sell our unwanted stuff and most of all clear out our houses, garages and sheds.

It’s easy to get involved, literally get rid of one thing a day and report back for support (and sometimes finger wagging if you’ve ‘accidentally’ bought a load of new clutter!)

Please join us and a warm welcome back to

@SandSnakeofDorne @PenelopeFlintstone @MajestyRoyal @Cupoteap @Gibble1 @SandAndSea @Medwaymumoffour @Rainbowqueen @Namethecat @lljkk @CapricornWithAUnicornHorn @Helsingborg @Panda81 @abitoflight @fannyanddick @AbbieLexie

(Apologies if I missed anyone out)

Original thread here

[Fishface77]

Got rid of a black bag full of clothes.
I say got rid, it’s currently full at the bottom of the stairs and I’ve took 3 things out all ready!

I advertised 2 vintage dresses on eBay but now I’m having sellers regret. What if my daughter says I wish you’d kept them for me mum! When she’s older?
Will I always wish I’d kept them? I’ve work them once or twice and they were pretty expensive.

[PenelopeFlintstone]

I say got rid, it’s currently full at the bottom of the stairs
When I say 'got rid of' it always means they're in the car boot.

I advertised 2 vintage dresses on eBay but now I’m having sellers regret. Keep those two dresses then, and get rid of two other things instead.

[PenelopeFlintstone]

Nice work, Miranda :)

[PenelopeFlintstone]

Also out of the pantry: an ageing box of couscous. However much I try, we will never like it. It went to the birds.
Five lightbulbs from in the utility cupboard - not working!! Gone. I'm scratching my head at the things we keep or forget to throw away......
Also gone are about 10 little hotel shampoos and conditioners that my DD likes to collect. All squeezed into the big bottles and gone.
I'm enjoying this today!

[glitterbiscuits]

Finally getting rid of several boxes of baby clothes. They were in the shed so it’s not making any difference to the house.
However youngest DC is 11 and sadly I’m too old for more babies.
So I’ve admitted defeat.

[Medwaymumoffour]

38 things from under the sink today! Omg the shame. Some pre dates my 14 year old ds.....

Shows how much cleaning I do! I also have ...
.... eight pairs of rubber gloves and 18 scouring pads as I thought I had none....

I did buy some new clothes for my ds and some bargain curtains ( just in case we do ever finish painting our bedroom)

So half good, half bad

[MrsCalypsoGrant]

Hello, can I join?

I want to live in a house with uncluttered surfaces, with everything in its place, containing only what I need. I love minimalism, I remember watching TV programmes in the 1980s and seeing apartments with virtually nothing in them (does anyone remember Colin's yuppy flat in Stenders?!) and thinking that's how I'll live when I grow up...

Then I got married to a clutter-freak, had kids, got busy

My stbxw (both women) and I split up almost two years ago, she has her own place nearby full of her rubbish So now I am engaged on a massive clear-out! I'm a beggar for holding on to stuff that I tell myself I'm going to stick on eBay at some point and three years later it's still sat there waiting to be listed. Recently I've got myself motivated and made around £160 quid over the last two months, much of what I've sold is kids clothes for £2 here and there, it all adds up which is great. I've given stacks to the charity shop and put a ban on family buying any more pointless stuff for the children. But it just keeps coming from no-where. A friend said to me recently that she feels she's clearing out through the front door and some mystical power is bringing more stuff in round the back

Might not be able to report in daily but am with everyone in spirit. I fear my biggest problem may be throwing too much away My concerned ten year old son said to me the other day: "Mum, you won't chuck literally everything out, will you?"

[StealthNinjaMum]

Well done medway have you set yourself any more ambitious targets like 200 in a week?

Welcome mrscalypso. Don't worry about throwing too much away, I haven't regretted anything yet. Most of it you won't even remember you had.

I didn't do anything yesterday. Today I emptied a few handbags (my new years resolution was to empty handbags regularly and I have failed on this!) Anyway I got rid of loads of receipts, papers, broken pens, pinecones, dead flowers, stones etc and found homes for makeup. Shockingly I found my driving license card and a bank card at the bottom of two bags in rubbish. I nearly threw them out. I have put one bag in the charity shop pile. It matched a suitcase that I got rid of about a year ago as it was damaged.

[Medwaymumoffour]

Hello and welcome MrsCalyso - sounds like you married my twin!

No stealth I am doing 200 this month ( I think? Can’t remember my target now?) was it 300?

Then I want to settle into a more manageable target. One in one out won’t be enough.

I just work well to a target. Otherwise I think I have done enough and completely stop. I am a proper hoarder. You wouldn’t know if you came to my house. You would think it’s a bit cluttered but I am not a recognisable hoarder off the TV. But I am a hoarder. It’s like being a alcoholic, it’s something I will battle with forever. Clean house, tidy house or not, I will always have a urge to acquire things I don’t honestly need or use. I have issues with stuff. Acquiring and disposing of. I have had cbt, face to face councilling and attending a hoarders group. Mind you I do listen to others stories in group and I want to go round and sort them out, but my stuff? No one touches my stuff!

So if I get in the mindset I get rid while I’m in the zone. My loft, my garage are rammed!

I worry one day if dh and the kids left I would be on the telly. I could easily fill my house in a year.

Oh the shame... still I’m aware it’s a problem.

[sandgrown]

Made a small start and binned lots of out of date ,half-used creams and lotions. Made a big pile of unused gifts for charity shop or work raffles. Gave lots of lovely gift bags to my daughter as she has a number of birthdays coming up. Normally they join my "stash" in a cupboard!

[StealthNinjaMum]

Medway well done, I work well to a target or to do list. Hope you can keep it up, when you focus I am always amazed by your success.

After throwing away what feels like dozens of children's wellies I didn't think I could possibly have any more that are too small for dds. I was wrong. This morning I found another tiny, toddler like pair. It is astounding how these things multiply - or maybe I am a compulsive welly buyer?

I am now going to run around the house with a timer tidying for 30 minutes. 30 minutes should make a difference as it's not too bad. I have a small amount of paperwork to do which will lead to shredding and I might give my bedroom a bit of a tidy in anticipation of a declutter.

[Rachyhayes]

So DD birthday is today so baked her cake yesterday which was so flat so as I type I am watching the oven for attempt 2 wish me luck.

At least its clearing my baking cupboard lol

[ememem84]

Can I join?! I’m in the middle of a delayed house move. So am trying to get rid of as much as I can.

Today ds and I took two bags of rubbish (mostly actual rubbish - kitchen bin and bedroom waste paper baskets etc) out of the house. We’ve also taken dh’s old laptop to the tip.

Plan is to tackle the “big cupboard” aka cupboard of doooooooom this week.

Wish me luck!

[MazDazzle]

Thank you Stealth, your post gave me food for thought.

Yesterday I sent my (broken) crib to the dump. It was mine when I was a baby and I used it for my babies. My youngest recently went into a big cot and we won’t be having any more children. I would have kept it, but one of the catches broke and couldn’t be fixed. I’ve been putting off chucking it for weeks. I almost cried when my DH told me how easily it crushed!

[StealthNinjaMum]

Maz . I would've killed dh for saying that!

I particularly hate decluttering baby things but read on another thread to just take photos of things you get rid of. I do this anyway as I sell / give stuff away but never go back to the photos. I also have a list on my iPad in which I track what I have got rid of. Sadly I am even nostalgic about that list but it was cluttering my life and my living space.

Have had a massive, massive tidy today - the best day in ages. Put lots of things away. Filed. Went through charity shop pile and am about to put three bags in the car. I have also filled 2 rubbish bags with papers and stuff that is broken - it is so hard to get rid of broken stuff. Some of the stuff I am finding hard to give away today is dd1s first ballet kit (she has now given up). It's so tiny.

[Medwaymumoffour]

Getting rid of the kids clothes is my biggest sticking point. How about doing small thinking out if it’s really painful? So first round with a pile you could say 10 things to charity. Leave for a few days then think 10 things to ebay. Then leave a few more days and say what you can part with from the pile maybe just keeping a select few items. Put the discard bag aside. Unless it calls to you over the next few days give it to charity. I know it’s against the golden rules but sometimes the more I look at a touch stuff again and again the easier it is to see that you don’t need it all.
But my loft is full because I don’t even get this stage often. I need dh to book some days off

[IHateYourCarpet]

One big charity bag of stuff today! Just mine and DS's stuff, sadly not DH's.

I totally get how posters feel about getting rid of baby stuff. I'm hanging on to clothes I like in case I can have another biological child in a few years. It seems silly, but I guess it's not taking up too much space.

I REALLY want to clear the kitchen cupboards before we move. We have endless odds and ends like half bags of pasta, ingredients we've used once, etc. And the freezer. It's full to bloody bursting.

[SandAndSea]

Carpet I can relate. DP went away with work and I hardly had to buy any food - just lived off what we already had in the freezer etc.

I still haven't finished my tea cupboard. Must get down to it.

[IHateYourCarpet]

Sand that's exactly what happens when DH is away! I live on quite odd food combos but it clears the cupboard a bit

I just wish some of it was sealed. Then I could donate it!

[IHateYourCarpet]

DH has literally just bought in a load of stuff he got out of his boot that his mum gave him

What the hell do I want with did christening cups and his baby pictures? Surely this is HER stuff to store.

And he's moaning he can't find any of his clothes. He has three wardrobes and the spare room double is full of them. Maybe I'll start sneaking stuff into the bin...

[IHateYourCarpet]

Sorry. That should read SIX christening cups.

[staveleymum]

Oh, please count me in. Another newbie but I am drowning in 'stuff'. We have a large house with a big attic and there is stuff up there that moved with us 14 years ago that are still in boxes plus 'crap' that the last owners (who lived here for 40 years) didnt take when they downsized.

It also doesnt help that my DH is a big hoarder - he wouldnt let me throw out a hairdryer of his mums that was 50 years old (one of those with the hood and hose)!!!! He gets quite sentimental and I just want a clear space!

I think I'll start small - the under stair cupboard is a good starting point - perhaps tackle a box of scarves/hats/gloves whilst I watch TV tonight!

[SandAndSea]

I've finally finished the tea cupboard!! Woop-woop!

[IHateYourCarpet]

Stave DH is the same. It's infuriating isn't it? Especially the hairdryer though - that would drive me mad!

If anyone has found a way to curb their partners hoarding of pointless junk PLEASE post here. I beg you.

[ememem84]

I just throw it out.

Dh brings something useless into the house I wait a while then bin it. “Oh it broke”

Or hideously ugly clothes (neon yellow hoody) “oh it got bleach on it”